Bacon Wrapped Individual Meatloaf #SundaySupper

Take a step into the past with dinner one night this week with an updated take on the retro dish meatloaf by turning them into Bacon Wrapped Individual Meatloaf.

If I miss anything from living at home with my parents, it’s my mom’s cooking. Don’t get me wrong, of course I obviously love MY cooking but there is something so satisfying about the dishes that you grew up with on a regular basis.

We didn’t have dedicated nights such as Taco Tuesday or Pizza Friday (although Chinese on Sunday was a frequent occurrence) but mom did have her rotation of tried and true dinners. A lot of them I’ve wanted to recreate and share over the last few years but let’s be honest, the food that we grew up with – though delicious – does not look good on camera! The only color that showed up on the plate was from our vegetables and even then it wasn’t the star of the meal. It’s funny when you think of the food that we grew up eating, a lot of neutral colors — because back then the phrase eating the rainbow meant grabbing a bag of skittles not all the fruits and vegetables!

It’s a good thing #SundaySupper is going retro today to give me a chance to share an {updated} meal that I loved growing up.

I always think that when it comes to meatloaf, it’s a food that comes in three camps.

You have your haters, your ketchup glazed lovers and the ones that must have with gravy.

We were a house that was strictly ketchup based. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever had meatloaf with gravy and I’m not sure how I really feel about it. Meatloaf is basically a fancied up hamburger anyway, right? That’s why ketchup belongs on it!

Mom’s recipe was simple but always came out perfectly thanks to a mirepoix (minus the celery) of vegetables mixed inside to keep the beef flavorful and juicy. It’s a recipe that I felt never really needed a change and while I don’t make it as often as we did growing up, I basically stick to what is best.

My only change this time is the addition of bacon and forming them into individual rounds as opposed to baking it up in a loaf pan. Oh and that tomato ketchup has been replaced with my new favorite fruit ketchup. I just love the taste of the beef, the bacon and subtle sweet spice of cherry chipotle Not Ketchup glazed on top.

2 tablespoons cherry chipotle Not Ketchup (or alternatively tomato Ketchup or the sauce from chipotle in adobe), plus extra ketchup for the glaze & to serve

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

6 slices good quality bacon

Instructions

In a non-stick skillet over medium heat drizzle about 1/2 tablespoon olive oil and saute the carrot and onion until they start to sweat and are soft and tender. About 5-7 minutes. Stir the vegetables frequently to make sure they don't brown, in the last 30 seconds add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Let cool slightly.

In a large bowl combine the beef, carrots, onions, garlic, egg, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, ketchup, and worcestershire sauce. If the mix seems a little wet, add a touch more breadcrumbs.

Scoop out about 3/4 cup of meatloaf and form 6 large meatballs and place on an aluminum foil covered baking sheet. Alternatively if you'd prefer to avoid having your meatloaf cook in the bacon drippings, you can place a wire cooking rack on top of the foil lined baking sheet and have the meatloaves cook on there, letting the grease drip down.

Wrap the bacon around each meatloaf, securing the ends with a toothpick or wrapping it with kitchen twine.

After you've wrapped each meatloaf with bacon, flatten the tops slightly, so they look less light meatballs.

Pour about 1 tablespoon Not Ketchup/regular Ketchup on top and spread around with a pastry brush.

Bake in a 400 degree heated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the bacon is fully cooked. The length of time will depend on the thickness of your bacon. I'd start checking at 30 minutes, you want the internal temperature of the meatloaves to be 155 to 160 degrees.

Before serving, remove the toothpicks or kitchen twine and add a fresh topping of ketchup.

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Okay so the first thing my husband saw this morning when he logged onto facebook was these incredible meatloaf bites and now that is all he wants for dinner. We are on a diet so I told him this can be his first special meal when he reaches his first goal. I seriously love the cherry chipotle on top.

We didnt have dedicated nights either except for Fridays. Dad got paid, so we went to dinner at Eat n Park (Pittsburgh eatery) Meatloaf was one the things someone would order there. Meatloaf, I think that is the stuff families gather for 🙂 These look wonderful!

I’m sure you know you had me at bacon! I love most of my mom’s recipes too, but it’s funny, the meatloaf (and meatballs) didn’t appeal to me so much… probably because she didn’t use any fillers, which is key! I can’t wait to try this!

Love that you used Not Ketchup! And of course, the bacon wrapping.
I wasn’t a big fan of meatloaf as a kid but I like it now. I’m in the ketchup camp – my mom does it plain, maybe that’s why I never liked it. And with gravy? Didn’t even know that was a thing!

Love it!! We had meatloaf on a regular basis from my mom when I was growing up too, only we always put tomato sauce on it. I haven’t yet met anyone else who did that, and personally I prefer ketchup, usually mixed with a touch of Dijon mustard. I love that yours are bacon-wrapped!